Charging forward / Gates leaves basketball, NFL defenders in dust

David Bush, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, November 18, 2004

Photo: DENIS POROY

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San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates drags New Orleans Saints' Jay Bellamy during a 29 yard recption in the second quarter of their game Sunday Nov. 7, 2004 ,in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Sports#Sports#Chronicle#11/18/2004#ALL#5star##0422455810 less

San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates drags New Orleans Saints' Jay Bellamy during a 29 yard recption in the second quarter of their game Sunday Nov. 7, 2004 ,in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) ... more

In their defense, the rest of the National Football League has pretty much the same lack of success on both counts, but that won't do the Raiders much good when the San Diego Chargers and their premier tight end come to the Coliseum on Sunday.

Gates, a basketball star at Kent State who did not play football after his freshman year in college, caught five passes, including two for touchdowns, as the Chargers drubbed the Raiders 42-14 on Oct. 31. That has pretty much become a routine line for Gates, who in his second NFL season has 54 receptions, best among AFC tight ends.

"As we watched him develop -- preseason, training camp -- it became pretty obvious this man has special qualities," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said during a conference call. "A year ago, we thought he'd be pretty good. But I think it would be foolhardy on my part to suggest that we knew he would ascend as quickly as he has.

"The thing I think that has served him especially well, there is nothing about the game that's too big for him," he added. "I've never seen a situation where he's overwhelmed by it, whether he's done something well or something poorly."

Gates was a high school football star in his native Detroit, and went to Michigan State with the intent of playing football and basketball.

"It was just a situation where I was promised I could do both, play football and basketball," Gates said. "As I attended Michigan State, and circumstances happened, and it was kind of like, 'You just have to focus on football.'

"I was 17 years old at the time, and I was really just interested in playing both. To make a long story short, I felt like I came to Michigan State to play both, and I wasn't able to do that."

Gates left Michigan State, spent a year on the West Coast at College of Sequoias (Visalia) and wound up at Kent State, where he just played basketball. He led the Golden Flashes as far as the final eight of the NCAA Tournament as a junior, but he never forgot about football and football never forgot about him.

"When the tournament ended, I got so many calls about football," Gates said. "They were interested in me. They knew my history. That's something that opened my eyes. ... I was a little overwhelmed by how impressed NFL scouts were, as opposed to NBA scouts. And I think that was the turning point.

"So for every one NBA scout that was seeing me as a potentially D-man in the NBA, and a tweener, I had a good six or seven NFL teams who liked me at tight end."

The Chargers were among the most interested, and were among a handful of teams at an individual workout, in which Gates showed enough to hold their interest. Because of Gates' four-year absence from football, and the fact they liked their own basketball/football hybrid Teyo Johnson in the second round, the Raiders did not pursue Gates.

Undrafted, he was snapped up by the Chargers as a free agent. By the middle of last season he was in the starting lineup.

"The No. 1 step I made was making the team as the fourth tight end," Gates said. "It was an ongoing process for me."

He was third on the team with 24 catches. This year, he has become one of the best in the league, especially when the Chargers need him most. He has 19 third-down receptions (tied for second in the NFL) for 220 yards. He also has caught eight touchdown passes.

"What you have is a guy with a big body who knows how to jump," Schottenheimer said. "He was a very good rebounder in college, and when you get down in that area of the field, you're looking for matchups. You don't always get them, and sometimes the other guy wins. But Antonio has been very effective for us."